The SEC announced charges against Facebook Inc. for making misleading disclosures regarding the risk of misuse of Facebook user data. According to the SEC, for more than two years, Facebook’s public disclosures presented the risk of misuse of user data as merely hypothetical when Facebook knew that a third-party developer... Read More
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. has launched its Annual Policy Survey. The survey is a key component of ISS’ annual benchmark policy development process, looking at potential policy changes globally for 2020 and beyond. Institutional investors, companies, corporate directors, and all other market constituents are invited to respond to the survey.... Read More
The Long-Term Stock Exchange, or LTSE, has filed a rule proposal designed to create long-term value for listed issuers. As of yet, I do not believe there are any companies listed on the LTSE, but it was only recently approved as a stock exchange. The rule proposal outlines the following... Read More
The SEC published a statement that encourages market participants to proactively manage their transition away from LIBOR and outlines several potential areas that may warrant increased attention during that time. It is expected that parties reporting information used to set LIBOR will stop doing so after 2021. As LIBOR is... Read More
Blockstack previously announced they expected to be the first Regulation A qualified ICO. I blogged that this was a likely a correct prediction. It turns out it was true as the SEC has qualified the ICO. See the Company’s blog post here. Again, I am not touting or endorsing the... Read More
Five federal financial regulatory agencies adopted a final rule to exclude community banks from the Volcker Rule, consistent with the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. The Volcker Rule generally restricts banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading and from owning, sponsoring, or having certain relationships with hedge... Read More
FASB has issued an Invitation to Comment, or ITC, as part of FASB’s project on certain identifiable intangible assets acquired in a business combination and subsequent accounting for goodwill. In previous outreach, the FASB staff received mixed feedback from users, preparers, and practitioners of financial reports on this topic. Consequently,... Read More
In a public statement, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton discussed the historical interplay between settlement offers and related waiver requests. Chair Clayton noted: “Although settlement offers and waiver requests have generally been made contemporaneously, and resolution of both often is critical to achieving the necessary level of certainty, in recent years,... Read More
In Ephrat et al v medCPU, Inc., the Delaware Court of Chancery considered whether a separation agreement released claims of advancement pursuant to medCPU’s, or the company’s, certificate of incorporation. The plaintiffs, former officers and directors of the company, sued to enforce their rights to payments under a separation agreement.... Read More
The Federal Trade Commission, with the concurrence of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, has approved amendments to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Rules and to the instructions for filling out the Antitrust Act Notification and Report Form, often referred to as the HSR Form. The new HSR Form and... Read More